Greek Acting Legend Maro Kontou Turns 90 Today

Greek acting legend and former politician Maro Kontou turns 90 years old today. Her special occasion was announced on social media by Finos Films, which has worked with her in the past.

“Today we send colorful wishes to the wonderful and bright Maro Kontou! Happy birthday our dear Maro,” Finos Films posted on their X account, accompanied by an image of the star in her younger days.

The career of Maro Kontou

Maro Kontou was born on this day in 1934 in Koukaki, Athens. From a young age, she showed an aptitude for dancing. She went on to study dance at the school of Koula Pratsika. Maro won a scholarship to the HILADEK school in Germany, but she was unable to accept it because of her family’s financial situation. She first took the stage as a dancer for the national theater in 1953.

The star’s first film appearance was in 1954 in a role in Dinos Dimopoulos’ Happy Beginning, produced by Finos Film. She featured in other films after this, including The Train Man, Crime in Kolonaki, and Crime in the Backstage.

She made her leading role debut in 1960 in the Finos Film production The Yellow Gloves, wherein she played the wife of Nikos Stavridis. A few years later, in 1963, she starred in another Finos Film production alongside Dinos Iliopoulos, titled My Friend Lefterakis.

Kontou has starred in more than 50 film productions, with perhaps the most famous being her role as Ismene in Antigone. She is also widely known for her role in Woman Fears Man in which, alongside George Constantinou, she played the female in the Kokovikos couple.

Kontou’s final collaboration with Finos Film was in the classic An Italian Girl From Kypseli. She starred in a central role in the film alongside Alekos Alexandrakis.

In 1990, Kontou presented the show Without Misunderstanding, which ran for only fourteen episodes, and was broadcast by ET2. In the first episode, on May 7, 1990, she had Rena Vlachopoulou on the show as a guest. She is also involved in painting, having already successfully held an exhibition at the Antinor gallery in 1993. Her painting is exhibited at the Vorre Museum.

Maro Kontou was also a member of Parliament in the first district of Athens with the New Democracy party. Her initial term was from July 29, 1999, to April 2000. She was also first runner-up in the 2004 elections, due to the resignation of Nikitas Kaklamanis, and was sworn in for the third time in the parliamentary seat in January 2007.

In the parliamentary elections of 2007, she ranked 12th among New Democracy candidates for Athens A and was not elected. She was still a municipal councilor in the municipality of Athens in the period 1994 to 2002. This was during the mayorship of Dimitris Avramopoulos.